Okot's show against Longhorn deepens conversation on Kenyan star's future
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Reading Time: 3min | Sat. 17.01.26. | 13:31
The Kenyan International is leading the league's double-double charts, a performance pointing at a successful transition to the Women's NBA from a program famed for producing dominant centres for the national league
Since joining Mississippi State last season, Madina Okot, Kenya's current top ranked export to the United States Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), has been critiqued for her traditional centre playing style, with little to show from behind the arc.
Since Thursday, 15 January, however, the conversation is seemingly changing as the South Carolina star rescued her side against Longhorns with an improbable trey (given she was 2-of-6 from range on the season before this point) for 68-65.
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The magical moment that has made headlines both in Kenya and around the world came in the final period. With 3:36 to play and the Gamecocks ahead by a single point, Raven Johnson flipped the ball over to Okot, who was standing on the left wing.
A full second passed between the time Okot caught the ball and when she began her motion to shoot her three. All five Texas defenders glanced at her but none made their way to defend. She aimed and fired, and the ball fell softly through the hoop. Cue pandemonium at the Colonial Life Arena!
"She couldn't hit it at a more important time ... for her or for us."
— Noah Chast (@NoahChastTV) January 16, 2026
Dawn Staley and Madina Okot on her huge 3PT shot to put the #Gamecocks up 4 late in the 4th quarter. South Carolina held on to beat Texas 68-65.@abc_columbia pic.twitter.com/T7Ejsm4Idh
“I’ve been practicing for it,” Okot said through a smile in the past-match press conference. “In today’s game, I was like, ‘Wait, I’m open, let me try it.’ And it went in.”
Her unlikely three was a dagger to Texas, who lost back-to-back games for the first time since November 2022.
“Probably the play of the game is Okot’s three,” Texas coach Vic Schaefer said. “Other than that, it was just a heavyweight title fight.”
Okot finished with 10 points and five rebounds in South Carolina’s 68-65 victory over the Longhorns.
She was a difference-maker, and her signature moment pointed to something larger; Okot is playing with confidence, she’s struggled through her ups and downs since transferring in from Mississippi State, and she’s emerging as an important contributor for the Gamecocks in their quest to go to the Final Four for the sixth consecutive season.
“Our bigs are comfortable taking the threes and because we worked them. She couldn’t have hit it at a more important time, for her and for us,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said of Okot’s three-pointer.
“She’s got to take something from this game that she’s got to feel good about. She’s working through some things. And sometimes, when players are working through things, they just got to get to the other side. She hasn’t been in this situation before. It is unfamiliar territory. It is big stakes and big games. It takes some time to get used to.”
After spending two seasons with Zetech University in Kenya, she arrived at Mississippi State last season where she quickly established herself as a player who could battle with some of the best bigs in the country, averaging 11.3 points and 9.6 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game.
She ranked fourth nationally last season in field goal percentage with a 64.9% clip and was third in rebounds-per-40-minutes with 16.9.
